


Opening Your Third Eye for Fun and Profit

by TaurusVersant



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 07:06:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12699864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaurusVersant/pseuds/TaurusVersant
Summary: Superpowers, shenanigans, and cheating at card games.





	Opening Your Third Eye for Fun and Profit

“That is a thief's skill, allowing one to tap into their sixth sense and see what is hidden in the dark. I believe you can handle it now. May you continue devoting yourself to further rehabilitation.”

The effect was immediate. As soon as Igor's words had finished a new world opened up to Akira Kurusu. A new sense, its prior absence suddenly a hole in his cognition. How had he never noticed he was lacking this? It was laughable. His Third Eye opened at last.

When he left the Velvet Room, returned to the entrance of the Palace he had entered, the others approached him in concern. Mona was the one to ask.

“Something wrong? You were just standing around all of a sudden.”

Standing around, huh? They didn't mention the door. There was no way they could see it. To them, there was no Velvet Room which he had entered. He'd just stopped. Hm.

Well, that was fine. He just nodded.

“Let's go.”

And looked for the first time at the world around him.

It was completely different. With one's vision alone, the world was the same – the details the same. All flat, no aspect standing out compared to the other. A simple tableau without definition. He hadn't realised it before. Hadn't understood what he was lacking. Not until now. Now...

Now there was definition. Things stood out. He could see the shape of the world around him, the blue brilliance of the entry to the Velvet Room, his allies – Mona, Skull, and Panther – shining like bright stars around him. Yet to see what else was around him he had to look past that shine, to suppress his awareness of it. Only then could he see the pathways and guiding lights. A whole new world opened up to him.

And this was only just the beginning.

Inside the Palace of Suguru Kamoshida it was even more. The Shadows had such visible auras under his Third Eye that Akira could almost see them through walls. Treasure glowed golden no matter how well it was hidden away. Footsteps were bright marks seared into the ground, easily followed. Switches obvious from the amount of handprints that had wrapped around them. The way forward always drawing his eyes. It was something else.

And all the while, staring at the world around him, when Akira's eyes met those of another they didn't react. Didn't flinch. Didn't act as if anything was different. Which meant, quite simply, that this ability had no tells. None could know. He'd think more on that later.

For now, they had a Palace to conquer.

\---

Exploring the Palace had been exhausting. By the time they were done, so low on energy their Persona looked almost hazy when called upon, the quartet were barely standing. Struggled their way home. Exchanged messages of reassurance that each were okay. Their first true bonding exercise had been a powerful one, Akira already finding himself thinking fondly of his fellows.

Spending a couple of hours fighting for your life alongside other people quickly endeared you to them, it seemed.

Sojiro, cleaning the counter of Leblanc, barely gave Akira a glance. That was not unexpected. At the very least, thanks to Takemi's medicines and the help of Ann and Morgana's healing abilities, none of the four had left the Metaverse with visible injuries. The last thing Akira needed was Sojiro thinking he'd gotten into a fight. He really didn't feel like sleeping on the street.

Still... Akira paused on his feet, looking at Sojiro Sakura, owner of Leblanc and caretaker of this troublesome youth. Something was off. It took a moment for it to occur to Akira, Sojiro meeting his eyes and giving a gruff “if you're not doing anything just head upstairs already”. That's right, the world looked flatter. Less defined. He'd spent so long using the Third Eye that he'd already forgotten this was how it normally was. Well, that was the difference between the Metaverse and reality, right? Powers in there didn't make it out.

It had become natural, the sense that the ability was there. The moment he'd gained it Akira had become aware of the hole it had filled, but as the hours passed that awareness faded away. Now it was a natural part of him. So natural he could forget it was there. So it wasn't some grand realisation, some thunderbolt of an idea striking him and causing him to try. Simply on a whim he looked with that sense all the same.

Irrelevance faded away, Sojiro before him lit up with shining colour, and Akira's composure slipped for just a moment.

Wait... what?

“Hey!” Morgana hissed it into Akira's ear, startling him out of his fugue, “I know you're tired so let's head upstairs already! You need to sleep!”

Blinking, the sight vanishing in an instant, Akira nodded. “Right,” he turned and moved towards the stairs, Sojiro assuming the answer a response to his own demand. Time for bed.

He had a busy day tomorrow.

\---

There was a hierarchy to it, Akira determined pretty quickly. Firstly, the Third Eye loved people. People lit up like stars, the intensity of colour seeming to match their... value(?) to him. He didn't quite get it – Ann and Ryuji were like shimmering flames, the people whispering about him in halls just masses of dull light. Still, it was so very easy to see the people around him, even at the corners of his peripheral vision, that Akira started to make a game of counting them and their stares. He could tell however many people were looking at him with just a sweep of his eyes.

Not bad at all.

After people was pathways. The steps left behind, the intent collected upon various places, the sensations of sound and smell, they created visual indicators that led to locations of interest. The school shop was like a bonfire – all roads led to it. Akira tried to buy a jam bread but they were sold out. Maybe tomorrow.

Thirdly and finally, perhaps a subset of the second, were objects of value. His own property was obvious even mixed in among others, the lines the teachers marked on the blackboard stood out vibrantly, and – this one was a big hit – answers started to appear before him.

If presented a range of choices, Akira's Third Eye drew his attention to one. Far too often it was the right one. He began to wonder just what this would mean for him going forward. Was this cheating? He couldn't tell. Not right now.

In the future, Akira would determine that it was his own senses guiding him. The Third Eye drew from his subconsciousness and marked the world in reflection to that – its ability to provide answers simply a far faster lookup of his own knowledge and understanding than his brain could regularly do alone. He'd grow to trust the sense as part of him, despite it being written into his brain by a being he neither understood nor truly trusted.

A wise decision, come the conclusion. But that was not the topic of now. No, for now...

A few days later Akira bought a deck of cards, a cheap set but one that would do the job. That night, after finishing off a fascinating read on Carmen herself – his Third Eye picking out books on the others' Persona from the school library with ease – Akira stood in the middle of his attic room and held the deck in his hands, Third Eye open. Morgana, resting on the banister, eyed him with interest. Joker was the man he'd chosen to follow, after all. Whatever he did, it would be interesting.

Without any further ceremony Akira threw the deck into the air and looked with all his might.

The cards split and fell apart, raining down around him, some hitting the floor face up, some face down. Morgana kept silent, but watched with intense vision. What was he...

Akira reached down and grabbed a card. Then another. Then another. One by one, with seemingly no interest in their position relative to another, he continued to pick them up. Rebuilt the deck. Then looked through it.

From ace of hearts to king of clubs, a perfect order. His smile was Joker's smile. Oh yes.

This would be fun.

\---

Makoto Niijima was following him. Badly, yes, but it was still annoying being stalked by the president of the Student Council. Like she was buying into the same rumours everyone else did. He'd be frustrated with her, were it not for something else.

Something he didn't quite understand.

Makoto was lit up with colour. Far more than the average person, far more than even some of those he liked like that girl from the school newspaper or that funny kid who was trying to sell himself as being the Phantom Thief. In fact only those Akira had forged actual, concrete, magically defined as Major Arcana – he'd spent hours reading internet pages on the Tarot after grasping the concept – bonds had greater colours than her. His senses said she was important.

But he just didn't know why.

Anyway, be that as it may, Makoto following him around and especially her doing such a bad job of it was getting insulting. Akira always knew when she was about – she stood out in crowds like a towering flame. And he'd already had enough experience from Kamoshida and Madarame's Palaces. So he slipped between members of the crowd and disappeared, just like a shadow. He could see Makoto, watch as she suddenly looked around in shock, sure she had been following the Kurusu student. But he was gone.

Until he was not.

“Good afternoon, Ms. President,” Akira spoke from directly behind her, “I hope you're having a nice day.”

Makoto's yelp and jump nearly got him. Nearly. He was doing his best to keep his cool, staring with a slightly arched eyebrow as if her reaction was completely unexpected. Makoto, breathing heavily after being so surprised, just stared up at him reproachfully as the crowd of people around wondered just what was going on. She knew it had been on purpose. And he knew she knew. But even still.

“Don't do that,” was all she requested quietly. Akira nodded lightly with a smile.

He made sure to do it every single time he caught her following him from then on.

\---

The kids in Yongen-Jaya liked to play at cards. Cards and dice, various games with no real prize beyond victory. When Akira was on the streets, he liked to hang around and chat with the various people out there. Get to know them. The dense community of Yongen, it was far different to the sparseness back home. He liked it.

He didn't always play the games the kids played, and they didn't always ask him to. But if he was around they'd make sure he was watching them win anyway, a witness to their showing off, and Akira made sure to do so. Studied with a keen eye. And an open Third.

If he shuffled a deck he knew its order. Could deal as he desired. If a dice was thrown he could predict the way it would fall. If he threw it he knew how to make it behave as he desired. These games of chance, from beginning to end, he could track.

And if, sometimes, he got a piercing headache and had to take some medicine, keep his eyes all shut until it faded, that wasn't a sign of anything weird, right?

Right.

\---

The first time the others become suspicious of him was at the hot-pot. Ryuji spotted his deck of cards and laid them out, scoffed at them still being in sorted order – Morgana made no mention of the amount of times Akira shuffled it – and started dealing. Nothing like a game of Go Fish around a hot-pot, right? Ann and Yusuke got into it immediately. The four played.

And Akira won.

In retrospect, he wasn't subtle. Without being the one to shuffle it, he couldn't one-hundred percent guarantee every card. But he had senses. He had ideas. And, as it turned out, they were enough. He could guess the cards they held. And the cards in the pond before them. It was basically cheating. Basically, in the sense that he was trying to avoid thinking about the part where it was actual, literal, dictionary-definition cheating. It felt kinda bad to think that way. Maybe he should pace himself more.

Dismantling the other three earned an extremely judgemental stare from the group. Morgana, despite knowing for sure, didn't comment on it. He'd known what Akira was capable of from the beginning. Didn't know of the Third Eye, only believed Akira had the senses of a true Phantom Thief – technically true – and had accepted that Akira was practising them. It was good to keep in practise, right?

Ann gathered up all the cards and took over shuffling, out of Akira's sight, for the rest of the evening. To his credit he did stop using the Third Eye as much. Instead of keeping it up all the time – which hurt his head if he did it too much – he simply took glances. If he wanted a five he could sense their rough position. Maybe his vision was just strong enough to see the reflections in the other's eyes? He didn't know.

He still won, but it was fairer. The others took various states of teasing and frustration, and Akira moderated himself better as time went on. No reason to upset people just to win at a card game. But even when making choices he knew were wrong, Akira kept an eye on the cards all the same.

After all there was still no reason not to practise, right?

\---

Makoto, naturally, was the first to actually call him out.

The security cameras of Kaneshiro's Palace couldn't track him – Joker slipped easily between their fields of vision, reached the hallway's end and disabled them in mere moments. The other Thieves, arranged back at the start, applauded him.

Queen stepped up.

“'Observation skills'?” She questioned the phrase Mona had used to suggest his Third Eye. “Joker, care to explain?”

“I've just got good eyes,” he shrugged, hoping that was it. The fact he wore glasses in reality – fake as they were – probably wasn't about to sell that. The stare he was getting didn't fade. But at least she said nothing else.

Until the next Safe Room.

“You can see things others can't.” Queen stood before the door to the Safe Room, blocking escape, staring Joker down. The others around him, Skull, Panther, and Fox, stared too. Mona, who comprehended there was something genuinely special about Joker's sight, said nothing. The group awaited.

He just shrugged again. “Yeah, I can.”

“The card game!” Panther, of course, was still a little bitter about that. “You _were_ cheating!”

“Dude come on!” Skull bandwagoned with her immediately, the two an unstoppable force when they weren't butting heads trying to go in opposite directions “A card game?”

“I was testing it,” more shrugs, more dismissal. “I didn't know how strong it was yet.”

“Why do you have it?” Queen wasn't taking this lying down. She didn't get the answer she wanted.

“I just do. It started happening when I first entered the Metaverse.” Every time he tried to explain the Velvet Room it didn't work. The words didn't cross over to the others. They just faded out and people stared blankly like he hadn't said anything at all. He didn't get it. But he'd already given up. “It helps, doesn't it?”

They couldn't deny that. Not for the amount of security cameras already evaded. The number of Shadows avoided. The number of traps sidestepped. The number of paths revealed. Joker's special sight wasn't something they could do without. But even still...

“No more using it when we play games!” was all Panther demanded. He nodded and agreed. Apologised. They accepted it. And the group moved on.

Just as they were leaving the Safe Room, the others already outside, Queen shoved an arm into the doorframe to bar Joker's leave. Stared him down as he walked right into the limb and stopped. They were close together. She hissed out her accusation. “Were all those times you were able to sneak up on me because of that?”

Joker's sole answer was a wide grin, inches from their adviser's face, before slipping under her arm and continuing on.

They had a Treasure to find.

\---

Akira Kurusu walked the streets when bored and kept an eye and ear open for people looking for things lost. Change. Wallets. Keys. Others. He helped find them. Saw the paths and sensed things of interest and value. All those he helped thanked him. Some tried to offer gifts, but he just waved them off. He was only doing the right thing.

Furthering this ability was reward enough, after all.

More and more stood out to him as time went on. Pathways and places, the movements of the masses, he could almost see their fields of vision. See the gaps he'd slip through to disappear from sight. Like a true Phantom Thief.

Even the others lost him, now and again. Until he turned up with a smile on his face.

And sometimes a prize.

The summer was hot. Vending machines, filled with refrigerated drinks, tempted each day. In seeing what was beneath the surface, Akira learned to track the movements of the parts within. Knew when to hit and when to shake. A free drink now and again was nothing to complain about, right? Morgana didn't lecture it. Didn't praise it, but didn't complain either.

And when Akira disappeared while the group was together, reappearing a few minutes later with an armful of drinks and a wide grin on his face, no-one was quite willing to question it. They probably realised that asking would result in an answer they didn't want to hear.

Akira just smiled and continued on, same as always.

He was enjoying this.

\---

It was nearing the end of summer break, on their first trip to Mementos with their new Oracle in tow, that consequences finally caught up with him. They were at a Safe Room, watching the trains go by, Joker staring at them with his Third Eye opened. Where were they going? Why were they so loaded with Shadows? No-one knew. He wondered if he could see something more.

He saw too much too quickly.

And pain laced its way through his head.

Their Joker was invincible. Had never fallen. This was known. Watching him immediately collapse to his knees, yell out in shock at the sensation, grinding a hand into his temple while sweat beaded on his face, stunned all of them.

“Joker?” “Hey Joker!” “Joker are you alright?” “Answer me!” “What's going on?”

“Stand back!”

Despite being the newest member of the Phantom Thieves, Oracle's order was heeded immediately. The others moved apart. And Necronomicon appeared above.

The Persona of Futaba Sakura was something else. Even Mona couldn't explain it, just understood that it was vastly different to all others. It didn't fight, could sense things no others could, and even allowed the young girl to manipulate Cognition itself. Its potential was something else. They couldn't imagine how far it would go.

For now, commanding it from within, Oracle extended Necronomicon's power to reach Joker below. To touch upon his head and look within. The biological statistics of all her party she'd studied as soon as she realised she could. Precise measurements, dietary situations, lacked vitamins, blood type, even age she could determine to within a small range of days. It was impressive.

She hadn't quite done a brain scan yet, but there was a first time for everything, right? She dived in.

The brain of Joker was on fire. Not literally but frankly almost literally. This was, as she would describe to anyone with understanding worth a damn – i.e. no-one else here – a classic case of overclocking. Running far beyond the standard specs for far too long with no proper cooling available. So she out-sourced Necronomicon's vast computational powers to take the strain off of Joker, let him run back down to normal cycles, and only then disconnected and dropped down below. Stood before him with hands on her hips, enjoying the brief moment of height over him while he was still on his knees. She didn't get the experience of being the one looking down very often, after all.

“You can't do that all the time,” she didn't even know what 'that' was, but Joker clearly did. He looked chastised. “You're actually damaging your own brain, be more careful, jeez! And you're the person I trusted to save me?” Lecturing Akira Kurusu was often met with a smirk and a brushing off of the subject. The others all found themselves stunned to see him just bow his head and mutter a shamed 'okay' in response.

This was new.

God it was frustrating none of their phones worked so they could get a shot of this.

\---

Goro Akechi had taken to visiting Leblanc. At this point, whether or not he was aware Akira was leader of the Phantom Thieves was a coinflip. Whether he suspected it... Akira would put that one at a big fat one-hundred percent. No way he didn't.

So he played it up, naturally.

They had a bond. It was a weird one, and no-one else was aware of it, but Akira knew it was there. A definition that gave strength to his Persona. And, because of that, Akechi was lit up the same as the others under Akira's Third Eye. A more vibrant pain in the neck he could not imagine.

After the first few visits, Akira made sure to check Leblanc first before entering it. The light and the sign that represented Sojiro was always there. Always reliable. Sometimes Futaba would be present too. And sometimes it would be Akechi. Visible just faintly from outside. But visible enough.

So the first time he did see the symbol representing the Detective Prince, Akira went in unsurprised. Simply walked through the door, met the other's eyes, and nodded to him. If Akechi did have anything to say about that gesture, he kept it to himself, greeting Akira in return while continuing to enjoy his coffee. Well that wouldn't do. That wasn't nearly the rise Akira was hoping for.

So he escalated. As he did.

“Good evening Detective,” came the drawl as he opened the door, the words entering the room before Akira had glanced at even one of its occupants. He knew though. And that was good enough.

“Good evening,” Akechi replied evenly, “I hope you are doing well.”

Akira's frown didn't show. Remained internal. Somehow he got the feeling Akechi was picking up on it at all. His smile was way too manufactured. 

So with the coffeeshop being a bust, Akira took to seeking more unexpected locations. Usually people approached him on the train platforms. This time he scouted for Akechi and called out to him himself. Was greeted with only a simple hello and no sign of surprise at all.

Catching Akechi leaving a restaurant, the owner within thanking him for his patronage, Akira positioned himself to be right in front of the detective when he turned. But even with that, their eyes meeting at this 'chance encounter', Akechi only nodded, greeted him, and continued on his own way. Like the meeting hadn't been anything at all.

And no matter what, no matter how often Akira made sure to appear from the periphery, Akechi never seemed surprised. It was the most frustrating thing he'd dealt with all year.

Morgana took to teasing him when he sulked afterwards.

\---

Rare was it for Akira Kurusu to be the victim of teasing, all too often the teasee, but with Haru Okumura's recent addition to the team the others needed to make sure she understood it was sometimes necessary to bring their fearless leader down a peg or two. Ann and Ryuji still weren't over him using 'literal superpowers to cheat at a game of Go Fish'. Mostly this amounted to them making use of his abilities for themselves.

For Ryuji, trips to the Ichigaya fishing pond or Yongen batting cages were made better with the addition of not only Akira's presence, but his abilities. It turned out the Third Eye didn't just make you ridiculously good at things that required hand-eye coordination, but also an excellent coach. Akira's advice had shored up Ryuji's fishing and batting game significantly. He was pretty pleased about that.

Ann, alongside Yusuke, delighted in Akira's ability to spot counterfeits. For Ann it was in shopping, while Yusuke sought second opinions on suspected art pieces, but both enjoyed bringing Akira along on their expeditions. Which, in full honesty, he didn't mind at all. It was good to use this ability for the benefit of others. He was happy.

But it still took Ryuji to be the one to suggest how it might benefit Haru.

She'd been lamenting the nature of sickness in plants, how short the gap could be between visible signs of ill and total demise, when Ryuji leaned over and playfully elbowed Akira in the side.

“I bet our leader could help,” he announced, the others cluing in quickly enough to nod agreement, “he can see lots of things no-one else can y'know?”

Haru looked thoughtful. Was that so...?

So it was that the next time Akira joined her on the rooftop of Shujin Academy, ready to lend a hand to her gardening efforts – efforts repaid ten times over with the benefits her vegetables brought in the Metaverse – Haru made sure to ask Akira to take a close look at the plants she kept.

And so he did.

It was true, the signs weren't really visible to the naked eye. Oh they'd flare up soon enough, become easily identifiable to even the most basic novice, but by then it would be too late. This though, this was almost too early.

Almost, but not quite.

Haru watched carefully as Akira pointed out what he saw, matching the listing to her own understanding. She had greater experience than he, the ability to detect more subtle signs, but even still Akira was able to catch some she had not. Good. She smiled at him. “Thank you, Akira-kun.”

He still helped out those who had lost things out on the streets. He still kept an eye on cards and dice to make sure he could track them. And, once in a while, he might receive a can from a vending machine without payment. But, for the most part, Akira focused on aiding his teammates now with his abilities. Doing what he could for them.

To be relied upon. To be there and able to help. It felt good. This felt good.

This was what he wanted to do.

\---

When it came to cards and dice, the Third Eye ability had at first been a crutch, something Akira relied on for every aspect of it. But when he'd been forced to backbench it, to only work it occasionally, he'd continued to be able to see more than most. Not to control but influence an order. To have better than average odds on the roll he needed. To always keep his cool and have a strong estimate of what was stacked against him.

As the Phantom Thieves made their way through the Palace of Sae Niijima, he really wished he could take some time just to play at a table. He was sure he'd make a killing. But not the kind they really needed. That took more than some lucky hands. It took outright blatant cheating.

Well, that was fine too. Win big at the big slots. That was the goal.

Sometimes they still needed a break though.

The door to a Safe Room slammed open and nine thieves – well eight thieves and one tag-along – spilled into it, immediately collapsing into whatever chairs and lounges were in sight. Skull ended up just sitting against a back wall. Crow, somehow, stayed on his feet. Likely to try and act tough. He wasn't fooling anyone.

They were all tired as hell.

“Even the common Shadows are so much,” Queen had lifted her mask, wiping away the sweat that formed under it, “I can't believe my sister's warped desires could attract so much power.”

“We'll get through this,” as always, Joker was the bastion of willpower, even if he was currently draped over one of the chairs around the main table, “just... in a minute.”

“Is it always like this?” Crow hovered just behind him with some sort of weird smile-frown expression, “I find it difficult to believe you all have achieved as much as you have while being so unprepared.”

“What was that?”

“Hey this is a big step-up from what's normal!”

“As if you were any more prepared.”

Skull, Panther, and Fox's retorts went ignored by the white-clad figure, still staring at Joker. With a sigh Joker flipped around, staring up at him. His own smile eternal. The one that actually bugged Crow. Outside the Metaverse Akira could never get one over him. Inside though...

“How about a game while we relax?” Cards flew from one hand to the other, the deck seemingly always having been in Joker's hands despite no-one seeing him with it before. Had he just scooped it off of a table as they'd been going along? Seriously, when had he got that?

The group at large, Crow excepted, knew exactly where this was going. If it were just them, they'd call Joker out immediately. But Crow was here. And this actually sounded pretty funny. Skull stepped up to the table. “Deal me in.”

“Hey count me in too!”

“I'm in!”

“I would also like to play!”

And so it was, in just a few moments, that the Phantom Thieves were gathered around the centre table of the safe room. They dealt out the chips already in their possession, formed stacks for each player, and got to it.

Joker cheated shamelessly.

He didn't shuffle the deck – Queen had taken that role, the others joking that he had 'hot-hands'. Crow didn't react to that statement, and kept an even expression even when dealt cards. In opposition to some of the others.

Skull, Panther, and Queen had terrible poker faces – everyone else at the table immediately knew their situation, without any special fancy Third Eye shenanigans or anything. Fox, who approached most everything with some level of detachment, did well enough, but tended to have poor luck. It was Mona, Oracle, and Noir who were the three strongest challengers, and each of them had their faults as well. Mona played too aggressively. Oracle threw out cards recklessly to make it more 'interesting'. Noir held onto things that might be useful for too long.

That left Crow who, unsurprisingly, was good at this. Always seemed to have one of the higher hands. It would frustrate the others, if not for one simple thing.

The fact that Joker made absolutely sure to always be just one better than Crow every time.

By the time the first game was over, you could _almost_ see the edge of frustration on Crow's face. Almost but not quite. Joker was shuffling the deck, and staring at him with a classic smile. “Want to play again?”

Crow reached right across the table and held out his hand. “I'll deal.”

There was just enough in his voice that the joking tone of the last game went out the window. Joker didn't react to it, simply handed over the deck, but the others backed away from the table. This was going to be a one on one.

Not that Joker would ever lose.

Crow dealt the cards and Joker smiled in return. Played along. And lost the first hand.

“Huh? Joker?”

A wave of his hand silenced the others, even as a small smile began to work its way across Crow's face. Another round. And another loss.

“Having difficulties, Joker?” Crow's tone was far more relaxed now, with success coming his way at last. He still wasn't precisely sure how Joker had cheated before, but with the deck under his control victory was assured. Good. All he had to do was remain calm and everything would go his way.

In this and in everything.

Joker, without a single sign of concern on his face, simply smiled. And gestured to continue.

“Deal again.”

“Very well.”

Crow dealt the cards, and knew how this would end. He'd controlled this deck from beginning to end, knew every card in it. Knew what Joker had. And knew victory was his. His smile, relaxed. It was over.

And indeed it was.

“Four of a kind,” Joker laid the jacks out on the table, Crow's eyes widening behind his mask. Oracle and Panther, watching over Joker's shoulders, let out a whoop. The others all tried and failed to hide their smiles.

Crow just stared.

“How.”

Joker grinned. “I've had practise.”

And what that really meant, and what they both knew it meant, was 'I'm a better cheat than you'. Because they both knew Crow was cheating too. Of course he was. It was only fair.

“A third game.” Crow almost snarled it, pushing the deck back into the centre of the table. “Fair and square.”

They both knew this wouldn't be the case either. But they'd make it more interesting. A little more difficult. Joker tilted his head. “Queen, if you would?”

As she took over the deck, shuffled it out of sight of both the black-clad thief and white-clad justicer, the other Thieves spread around. Joker looked with mock offence as Skull and Fox took stance behind Crow.

“You win too often, it's about time someone beats you properly.”

“Forget that!” Panther snapped back from Joker's side, “We gotta support our leader you know!”

Mona took a point opposite Queen, a second pair of eyes on the players. If they were going to cheat, and he was sure they were, they'd have to do a good job of it. He'd make sure of it. Noir hovered back, avoiding a side. And the cards were dealt.

“Let's make this interesting,” Joker pushed over the stack of chips they'd been using before, eyes locked on Crow's own. “I win and you take us all out for a nice dinner tonight. Somewhere fancy. Deal?”

The group immediately seemed interested now. Skull and Fox's expressions said they regretted their positioning. Crow leaned forward and waved a finger.

“Then if I win, hmm, let me see...” He cast his eyes around, considered the group here. Ah. “Since you have all been having difficulties so far, why not let me lead the Phantom Thieves for the remainder of this Palace. I'm sure things would go far smoother, after all.”

The reactions were pronounced. Immediately every one of the Thieves objected, insisted that Crow's request was way out of line. Yet Joker's raised hand silenced them, his smile the same as ever.

“Okay.”

The first round was played as everyone else in the room chewed Joker out for so wantonly agreeing to those terms.

Crow was good. Very good. If it weren't for his Third Eye, and the practise he'd had because of it, Joker would be completely crushed here. He could see the cards disappearing and reappearing in Crow's hand as time went along, even to the degree that he started to lose track of them. This was a professional. Queen was playing it fair, Mona ensuring that each was pressured to do the same. Not that they were, but it was the thought that counts.

The game played evenly. Back and forth. Crow took wins and so did Joker. Both were getting into it, this competition. There was intensity in the air. The other Thieves took turns cheering for Joker – Skull and Fox stuck behind Crow but remaining silent –, creating noise and distractions each made use of further. It was all part of the game, from top to bottom.

And then came the final play and Crow's smile was as wide as it could be.

“Joker,” he laid out five cards, flipping them one by one, “you let your guard down. The time to back out has long since passed.” Noise broke out across the Safe Room at the reveal, the royal flush that Crow had assembled. No-one, least of all Queen, had a clue how he'd pulled that one off. They'd all been watching so closely after all.

And then all eyes turned to Joker.

He was smiling. As always. Holding five cards in hand, a slightly arched eyebrow his only acknowledgement of Crow's play. Crow was just smirking at him, his victory in this field declared. What else could happen? There was no way Joker could match him. None at all.

So were his thoughts, so was the momentary, fearful belief of the group as the Phantom Thieves' leader laid down his cards.

Then flipped them over.

The boom of noise made Shadows beyond the Safe Room look up in confusion, but the room itself was outside their cognition and so they could find no way to it. Inside the room, the noise continued unabated.

Oracle and Panther were jumping up and down, Skull shoving Joker again and again demanding to know how he'd managed that. Mona and Noir were checking the table, looking for anything that could have led to this. Fox just enjoyed the sight.

Crow was staring absolute daggers across the table, unbelieving of how this had happened. It wasn't about the cards. It had never been about the cards. It had always been about cheating better than the other. Being undetectable. Having total control. That was how he'd extracted the five cards necessary for absolute victory from the deck.

But from where, where on earth, had the Phantom Thieves' leader drawn five jokers himself?

“How?” was all he managed, the word almost a croak. He knew every card in the deck. He'd shuffled it himself before, dammit! How was there even a single joker present? The others quieted, desperate to know that themselves. Joker just smiled, and leaned back in his chair.

“Sometimes you just need to deal from a different deck.”

And then all heads turned, all eyes locked on Queen, who did her best not to meet any of them. With everyone focusing on Joker and Crow, well, she'd had time to do as she pleased all along.

“Our thanks for your treating us tonight, Crow,” she nodded gently to him. He just stared back.

But he did pay out their meals that night all the same.

\---

It was past the events of that Palace, past his arrest and escape from death, that Akira stood in the attic of Leblanc and waited impatiently for the day to pass, for the others to return from school so they could all get to work on getting into Shido's Palace.

He lazed around, complained to Morgana, then grabbed his deck of cards and began to shuffle. It was something to do. Something to keep hands and mind busy. It helped.

And when he stopped, and drew the first card from the deck, he couldn't help but smile at the thought of how mad Akechi would be: how mad that Akira had bested him with the same trick twice.

But that was just how it was.

Joker always wins.

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of people I've seen in fics showed the Third Eye as being some sort of golden glow to Akira's eyes, but I swear I've looked closely at the screen when using it and seen nothing. I'm fairly confident it was an artistic liberty people took and that there's no actual visual indication for others. God I hope there isn't.
> 
> The original plan for this fic was, quite literally "Using Third Eye for shenanigans". That was all my notes had. Not a specific scene or anything, I just wanted Akira being a troublemaker with this superpower of his. When I came up with this title I was exceptionally pleased, because let's be real it's Very Good, but even then I didn't really know what this would be. Funny and light-hearted was most of the goal at the time.
> 
> I just wrote ideas about a week or two ago, built something up, and came up with the game of cards to conclude it, the showdown between Joker and Crow. First time I've actually written Akechi himself, actually. Past this day he'd be furious with himself for letting Akira get under his skin in the game, and cause him to act a little less controlled than normal. Akira would just remember this as one of the few times Akechi was mostly honest with them all about who he was. Ouch.
> 
> I decided that, while in the Metaverse, the characters should be thought of in terms of their codenames. I was not at all consistent with that, but I think it's okay. I feel I referred to the right names at the right times. It's cool. Hopefully not too confusing to read. Let me know.
> 
> Anyway, with this fic done, I've got one more in mind for the P5 tag right now before I spend a little time in some others. Got some Gravity Rush and BNHA I'd like to write. First up though, one more fic. A little larger one. Not Spin the Wheel big, but likely larger than Confidantial Confessions.
> 
> For those of you who have read Spin the Wheel (And if not I strongly recommend checking my profile for my other P5 works), consider chapter 7, Ann's chapter. A promise made in that might have made you think, "wow, I'd sure like to see that one day". My friends, stay tuned for what's next.
> 
> Set in Golden Week, its title will be: Shiho and the Phantom Thieves.


End file.
